Always a Voice!

Empowering Survivors of Abuse

The Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness... This is your inalienable right! Never again must you keep silent!

Welcome!

Always A Voice! is a vibrant resource of encouragement and support for survivors of abuse, trauma and depression.

Your story isn't over! The pain you have endured does not define you. You define you. You may be cast down, but you are not forsaken. This website is here to help you embrace your worth as you continue to find your voice, your power, your path, your faith, your joy and your rebirth.

You have the inalienable right to use your voice to seek help, to encourage kindness,to bring secrets into the light, and to empower yourself and others.

to embrace my victories. I've chosen to live abundantly. Not in spite of my past, but because of it. I choose to overcome, to fight the good fight, to walk in thankfulness and to speak the truth, no matter what.I am not ashamed to stand up and do what I can, where I can.

Thank you for your interest!! Please write to me! I would love to hear from you! Together we will continue to "just keep swimming"!

As a very young child, I was subjected to sexual abuse until I was seven years old. When I was twelve, my parents and I went to Micronesia as missionaries with Evangelism Missions Inc. I loved it! I learned the language, embraced the culture, and eventually became interpreter for our mission church. My abuse became a distant memory—buried and unaddressed.

Years later, still deep in the clutches of my church affiliation, I married a man who was physically abusive—with the church’s backing—under the doctrine of “Biblical Patriarchy”. Then the unthinkable happened. I discovered my children were being sexually abused. My world crashed around me.

I wish I could say I was strong and tenacious. I wasn’t. The knowledge of my children’s abuse filled me with such pain I could barely function. Guilt engulfed me. How could this have happened? I’d been abused myself—Shouldn’t I have been able to recognize the signs? This trauma triggered my own unresolved past, resulting in PTSD and severe anxiety disorder. The lack of support from our friends—especially within the church—astounded me. We were told to forgive and honor our abuser. They strictly instructed us to be silent, even telling us not to press charges, stating that “speaking out about our abuse gave the church—and thus, Jesus Christ—a bad name”. He only served an 18-month sentence. Following his release, he was brought back into church leadership.

After some very confusing years, and then some amazing intensive therapy, I finally left my toxic church affiliation—and my marriage—and began the slow, upward path toward what I now refer to as "active healing". I was amazed to learn more about Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) and its effects on us as adults. I surrounded myself with life-changing resources—and positive support.

Today, I am a court-certified translator/interpreter, co-owner of a real estate investment company, and the founder of Always a Voice®. I am the International Spokesperson for Stop the Silence® and an Ambassador/Advocate with the CSA Survivor Force, a national media outreach group under Stop the Silence® (https://stopthesilence.org/csa-survivor-force/). In March 2017, I was awarded the title of Mrs. District of Columbia US Continental 2017. Currently I am pursuing my MA in Counseling/Biblical Theology and daily strive to use my experiences to offer hope and encouragement to other survivors.

I am remarried and my family is thriving—more than I would have thought possible! My children have gone on to use their own voices through music, dance, art, education. Some are directly fighting against sex-trafficking and child abuse.